Haki Madini Kenya through Transparency International Kenya, Caritas Kitui, Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB), and Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) convened the second Jukwaa la Madini Conference in Kitui County. The Jukwaa brought together Kitui residents from the mining communities, duty bearers including County Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, County Ministry of Land, National Land Commission, National Environmental Management Authority, Investors in the mining sector, National and County Civil Society Organizations, National Youth Council and Academia.
The two-day Conference which was held on 13th – 14th February 2020 that took the dialogue approach was themed ‘Advocating for Inclusivity and Fairness in Decision Making Processes for Mineral Resources in Kitui County’. Specifically, the dialogue set out to a) Create an avenue for all stakeholders to exchange ideas and knowledge regarding mineral resources in the county, b) Create an understanding of the specific role of the nationals/county government on issues of management, exploitation, and utilization of the mineral resources, c) Explore long-term solutions about matters of Land and minerals in Kitui County such as land survey and titling, compensation & resettlement and d) Strengthen solidarity and action on emerging issues concerns such as Artisanal Mining (ASM), Women and youth in mining sector, implications of mining to the environment and climate change.
The dialogue approach enabled the conference to allow open conversations with duty bearers, community, and intermediaries based on three important considerations namely Positions, Interests, and Needs. The duty bearers, communities, investors as well as each and every stakeholder by default and sometimes because of duty or influence hold particular positions, interests and have certain needs with regards to any subject which in this case is the mining sector. For this reason, dialogue process allows collective identification and consensus on real needs, dialogue provide an opportunity to examine interests then lead to search or clarify common positions based on the win-win situation through a process of negotiation.
